Big Contracts Could Equal Big Problems

As we have seen in the past couple of weeks as the NFL free agency began, players are getting BIG contracts. This is occurring more and more as the price for players rises. Many athletes “deserve¹” the amount of their contracts and many don’t. The interesting thing about whether the player has played well enough to earn the big deal is if they can handle what the big deal means.

When the NFL free agency opened on March 13^th, many athletes flew off the board. Usually if you get a deal done in the first 24 hours you are making some big money. One of the players that intrigued me was Pierre Garcon who is now with the redskins but was formerly with the Colts. This is an interesting signing because he signed a 5 year $42 million contract. This is some pretty good money for a wide receiver. I will also be using an example of the huge payday of Calvin Johnson who just signed an 8-year $132 million. These two contracts are the difference between a good wide receiver and an elite, franchise, top 5 wide receiver. Now here is where the difference in their play comes in. Garcon was a wide receiver that filled the 2^nd/3^rd wide receiver in the system and was being passed to by Peyton Manning. We all know Manning makes everyone better. He was also matched up against the 2^nd or 3^rd best corner back on the opposing team instead of their best shut down corner. Calvin Johnson has been the number 1 wide out for the lions and has had a combination of matt Stafford, who is good but not manning, and his backups when he has been hurt. Johnson has been stellar against any and all opposing corner backs, even the best. So at this point in the discussion it would appear that the contracts make sense.

The problems with the large sums of money are when the player gets the new deal. If the player did not show up and play as they should they would never even receive a big offer. Now what happens when the players get a big deal? Some excel and some flop. Why does this happen? Well there are many variables that change with the deal but the two biggest are the team the player goes to and the mentality of the player.

We can only speculate about how the new contracts will play out however there are some contracts that were made years ago that we laugh about now. One that most football fans remember is the $100 million deal to Albert Hayneswoth. He played for the Titans getting a ton of sacks and tackles. He also was the anchor of the defensive line. He earned his new payday but that’s when it all fell apart. He got the deal and moved to the Redskins and tanked hard. He still had a few sacks but became lazy and a huge distraction instead of a huge force. He apparently could not handle the pressure of what a $100 million deal means. It means we are all looking to you for the anchor when he was used to being underrated help. This is what I mean by not having the mentality for a big deal. He became lazy, didn’t want to work anymore and felt “untouchable” when in reality he just became a loser.

If we go back to Garcon, he has been a number 2 or 3 wideout. Can he handle the on field attention of being a number 1? Can he still run good routs and get separation against the top corners? Can he handle his price tag following him and a team looking for him to be the best on the team? All these questions will be answered in time.

There was an interesting contract situation during this current NFL season. Ryan Fitzpatrick of the Buffalo Bills was signed to a big extension during the season because the team was 5-2 and he was playing great. Now I mentioned 2 of the biggest reasons for a flow was a team change and the mentality of a new deal. In this case he did not change teams so the issue would appear to be mostly mental. What happened was the Bills went 1-8 in their final 9 games and finished last in their division. It would appear that he could not handle then mentality of the price tag he now has. Before he was playing as an underrated quarterback that had not done much great until now. After he got the deal he was no longer underrated and players were coming after him instead of ignoring him.

The same story goes for all sports not just in the NFL. Its easy in baseball, basketball, and most positions where there is 1 starter in football. It changes a bit when you look at the NHL where for offence there are usually 4 per position and 3 per position on defense. In the NHL you can be a 1^st line center, 2^nd line center, 3^rd line center, or 4^th line center. All of these positions play during a game just some get more time and shifts than others. Now a big contract can mean so much more than other sports where you are a starter or reserve. If you have played out your rookie contract say it was for 4 years and the player was a 2^nd line center and did pretty well. Now he gets a huge second contract and a team looks for him to be their franchise 1^st line center and leader of the team.

This is very dangerous territory. Depending on his personality he could be great or he could flop. If this player got used to his underrated 2^nd line, not having the pressure to carry the team, he may have issues mentally being the one to carry the team on his shoulders. There is a big mental change when a team looks for you to carry a team when you were happy being support. Some players will play better when they know they are not the best and only the support of the team.

The tough part about this whole situation is as an athlete you want to be the one who leads the team and is the best. You don’t think about your role and want to make more money. Therefore a player would be insulted if the general manager went to a player and said we don’t want to move you into a top line role because you play better as support and not leader. If this league was not so money driven and players did not have such big egos this may actually be more possible.

If sports were more sensitive to the mental side of the game contracts would be done very differently and I believe there would not be as many busts. This is because we would look more to see if the player can handle the role change instead of just throwing money at them in hope that they can handle it. This could not work in today’s system because they go where the money is and not where they may actually fit best. Its tough to say how a player will mentally react to a new contract, with the current system you just have to throw the money at them and hope they can handle it.

These big contracts don’t even begin to skim the surface of the reason big contacts and the jump from college to pros creates so many busts. Look for the next blog examining the college to pro bust rate.

Notes:

1- I put deserve in quotes because its debatable that they actually deserve that sum of money.